From Gil Leyvas interview
"Well, I realized that it was something that we saw earlier from the week before -- we saw something very similar the past Thursday, and immediately I realized that it was something very similar, and called on the 2-way there to our assignment desk to let them know that we were seeing it again. It's not as dramatic as the one from yesterday -- the one from yesterday was pretty spectacular. Like I said, it was growing in nature and continued to fly up into the sky, and at one point it seemed to separate. The smoke or the plume seemed to stop and then continue further up in the sky and then finally disappear."
UPS902 using a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flew the same route/time on the 4th from Honolulu to Ontario, California. I wonder if Gil Leyvas still has film from 4th November as it might just put this whole event to rest? Was Gil filming the UPS MD-11 on 4th November at sunset?
From 4th November - UPS902. I had to register to view so possibly the link won't form? Details recorded have the 4th November flight arriving at Ontario (KONT) at 18:05 PST. On the 8th November UPS902 arrived at Ontario (KONT) at 18:02 PST.
Link to UPS902 tracklog 4th November
8th November for comparison.
Link to UPS902 tracklog 8th November
I've served in the military and I'm now an aviaton photographer. I've witnessed ballistic missile launches and I've also seen how airliner contrails can be misinterpreted. Misinterpreted from perspective, the lighting conditions at sunset and sunrise and also due the type of aircraft involved.
The type of aircraft is important here as the likely candidate is UPS902. This was a McDonnell Douglas MD-11.
Apologies for those who are aware of this type, but it requires to be highlighted that this is a three-engined airliner. Under certain atmospheric conditions the MD-11 can produce a unique and blended contrail. On the 8th November according, to Dr Patrick Minnis of NASA, the conditions were right for a persistent contrail leading to a non-persistent contrail as the aircraft headed inland.